Charlize was 15 years old when she killed herself on November 22, 2023 in Nice. On her phone, her mother discovered dozens of videos inciting suicide. As part of a collective of seven families, she sued TikTok this Monday, November 4.
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“The night brings advice, she advised me to take a stool and a rope”. When Delphine Dapui discovers this video of a young woman republished by her daughter on her TikTok account, it is too late. The day before, Charlize, 15, hanged herself in the family apartment.
I was stunned. We did not know that content of this style was broadcast on TikTok. For me it was a social network where we published dances and music.
Delphine Dapui, mother of Charlize
Victim of harassment, prey to depression, Charlize had gradually isolated herself, alone with her phone.
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© Delphine Dapui
For this bereaved mother, a long descent into the darkness of social networks begins. After the investigation was closed, Charlize's phone was returned to her. There she discovers dozens of videos, real “tutorials” for inflicting physical suffering on yourself or attempting to kill yourself, just a click away.
“There were scarification videos,” says Delphine Dapui, “advice to commit suicide, or to hurt yourself without it being seen.”
To demonstrate the lack of regulation of the social network, Delphine Dapui decides to create an account and test the power of the algorithm. His first search was for weight loss tips. He is offered diets, then quickly arrives the first “advice” for anorexia: what to drink in the morning to curb hunger, how to measure the size of your wrist, how to make yourself vomit.
Then come the scarification and suicide videos:
There was the testimony of a young girl who said: I have failed to commit suicide seven times, but next time I will succeed. And they gave me all the means to harm myself: pencil sharpener blades, doliprane, hot shower to burn myself without it being visible.
Delphine Dapui, mother of Charlize
The more she watches these videos, the more Tiktok targets this theme exclusively and only offers her that. For her there is no doubt: her daughter followed the same path.
Charlize had been the victim of harassment at a private college in Nice. Despite her schooling at Don Bosco, she had developed a school phobia and isolated herself.
“Her phone had become a drug. It was very addictive. She was looking for a community. She fell apart.”
Despite all the attention of her family, medical support and hospitalization in Lenval, the young girl, in the grip of depression, made three suicide attempts between 2022 and 2023.
If her mother regrets that the doctors were unable to do anything about this addiction, it is primarily the social network that she blames. This is why, with six other families united within the Algos Victima collective, she decided to take the giant TikTok to court in Créteil this Monday, November 4.
I want TikTok to recognize its wrongs, and impose more regulation. You can be banned from Facebook for an inappropriate word, how can you allow so much abuse on TikTok?
Delphine Dapui, mother of Charlize
When contacted, the social network said it had not received any notification relating to this legal procedure and claimed to have one of the most powerful regulatory systems:
More than 40,000 trust and security experts around the world ensure the security and protection of users and their data, including more than 6,000 focused on Europe, 637 handling French-language content, more than other comparable platforms.
The social network claims to remove any content related to suicide or self-harm: between April and June 2024, 91% of videos deleted would have been preventative, before being viewed.
TikTok says it is not responsible, that it has regulators. Proof that no. I am filing a complaint so that everyone feels concerned and takes responsibility.”
Delphine Dapui, mother of Charlize
Through this approach, Delphine Dapui hopes to obtain justice for her daughter, but also to protect other adolescents from the dangers of social networks.
